The drainage of land and its necessity in the present state of the agricultural interests of Canada [microform] : a paper read before the city of Toronto Electoral Division Agricultural and Horticultural Society, 12th March, 1859

THE

DRAINAGE OF LAND,

AND ITS

NECESSITY IN THE PRESENT STATE OF THE
AGRICULTURAL INTERESTS OF CANADA.

A PAPER

READ BEFORE THE CITY OF TORONTO ELECTORAL DIVISION
AGRICULTURAL AND HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,
1212 MARCH, 1859,

SEIN AAA AR A A Ae

BY H. J. BOULTON, ESQ., OF HUMBERFORD.

NNN tte ee BA

TORONTO:

RE-PRINTED FROM THE JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS OF THE
BOARD OF AGRICULTURE.

Taompson & Co., Printers, 77 Kino Srrmer East,

LAND DRAINAGE,

The exceedingly depressed condition of every interest of the Province of Canada
must be a matter of great anxiety to every one interested in it, cither as the coun-
try of their birth, or of their temporary or permanent adoption ; and in seeking
for the cause of our destitution, we should look to the source of our wealth, and
enquire what is its condition. High authorities hold that the produce of the
tillage of the earth is the foundation of the wealth of all nations, and it surely
may he assumed without any elaboration of argument that the paramount inter-
est of Canada is its agriculture. Our population is thin and scattered, our
lands are more abundant than we can occupy and subdue, our very towns and
cities do not exclude from their limits, nay, almost centres, the occupations of
the country ; yet, with all these circumstances surrounding us we have an abso-
lute scarcity of every article in the co.nmonest demand for the support of both
wan and beast, and instead of drawing upon the fund of our agricultural pro-
ducts to pay for the luxuries or rather for the very necessaries of life, we are on
the eve of having recourse to a foreign market for what should be produced in
excess of the demand at home. <A paper relating, as this does, to the general
subject of farming, may at first sight appear more suitable to be read before an
association of a rura! district than one the majority of whose members probably
restrict their practical operations to the garden and the green house; buv the
very liberal manner in which it is well known many of the townspeople of
Toronto have supported some of the neighboring townshin societies, removes
any hesitation in addressing them on the subject. Indepe nt of the fact that
farming ought, after all, to be gardening on a large scale, re is another in-
direct interest. A few days agoa friend was sneaking of R. ester as he knew
her when the Genesee valley poured its treasures of wheat into her mills, and
the difference now, when one rarely sees a wagon load of wheat in the street.—
Rochester had her manufacturing power to fall back upon, but what will become
of our towns if the produce trade fails them. Here is a powerful incentive,
and the inhabitants of Toronto as the centre of perhaps the most influential
farming district of the Provinee, should at once take up the subject of the pre-
sent fuiling interest of agriculture, and discuss and devise and advocate mea-
sures for its relief. For many years past the very high price of wheat has
tempted the whole farming population almost to abandon every other article of
cultivation, and consequently the other grains, with all roots, vegetables, dairy
produce, hay and fodder, have become go scarce as to have reached almost fabu-
lous prices, and now as an overwhelming misery comes the blight and failure of
what was expected to be the golden harvest.

As the inhabitants of a young country, and a people who have, as a majority,
carved out for themselves competence and comfort, we have too easily and gene-
rally given way to a practice of self gratulation, laudation and complacency,
which has been too readily encouraged in all addresses made to large gatherings
of our people. A very little practical thought would teach us that we have yet
® vast deal to learn, and immense improvements to accomplish. Compare any
English farm steading with our barn premises. In place of roofed buildings

4 . «HAND DRAINAGE.

here, barely filled with the crop of whole farms, there one finds in a rick-yard,
dozens of stacks largo enough each to fill a moderately sized barn, and the straw -
when thrashed, instead of being cast out to decay in the course of perhaps two
or more seasons, or at best thrown to be partly eaten, partly trodden under foot
by a few half-starved cattle, ‘is carefully preserved to absorb the liquid, and be
mixed with the solid manure produced by cattle fed on the richest and most
nutritive food.

Our productions in the aggregate have been very great, but the extent of
the lands from which they have been drawn has been generally unknown, and
their gradual fall from fertility to impoverishment has been unnoted. By the
census return of the year 1851, (which was before our wheat was attacked by
the ills with which it seems at present threatened,) it appears that the yield of
wheat in fourteen counties in Upper Canada, varied from 16 to 20 bushels per
acre. The County of Bruce, in which the total yield was small, averaging
20 2-60 bushels, while among the older counties, Brant, Halton, York, Oxford,
Kent and Peel, ranged next in the order in which they are placed, from 19 2-60
bushels down to 18 3-60 bushels; the total average of Upper Canada being
16 14-60 bushels per acre, while in Lower Canada it is 9 50-60 bushels, and in
Ohio 12, about the same period. While for Scotland for the year 1854, the
average is no less than 28 56-60, and in England, I believe, the average is set
down at the same period by Mr. Caird at 34 quarters or 80 bushels. While
dwelling upon these figures it may not be uninteresting to state the relative pro-
portion of land occupied in England and Canada in the growth of grain and
root crops, which will easily be seen in the following tables :

Root and green crops. Grain. Grasses. Pasture,
England, acres, 8,069,215 8,476,592 2,820,066 8,874,946
@pper Canada, ‘ 96,285 1,598,482 698,727 1,361,846

The proportion of the first two columns being for England, about as 1 to 3;
for Canada, as 1 to 16. The tables from which the above statements are col-
lected, set down the acreage under tillage, irrigated meadows, and permanent
pasture,

England......s.csssecssceenee PEAiii sisi benosine HELIN LITUNT UTR ALSO STRUGGLE Oe

These remarks are not applicable solely toCanada. In a late paper, (Leader,
3rd March) was published an extract from an Ohio agricultural journal, showing
that the same results are to be observed there. Although from the year 1840
till 1850, there had been a large addition to the number of acres under wheat,
yet there had at the same time been an actual diminution in the amount of the
proluce, to the enormous extent of over 2,000,000 of bushels. This is attributed
by the Ohio editor to bad farming, but the remarks upon the extract doubt this,
throw all the blame upon the soil, and express an opinion that while all the
west and so many acres of wild lands remain open for cultivation high farming
does not pay.

In the first place, I would ask, how many and where are the instances in which
high farming has been tried in this country, and where are the returns on
which to ground the assertion that it does not pay? As a second question : is
the mission of civilization in this continent to pass over the face of the country
from east to west, like a desolating cloud of locusts, te exhaust the natural rich-
ness of the soil, and leave nothing behind but a barren and profitless waste. It
would be far casier to husband and sustain the strength of our lands than resus-
citate it after once suffering it to sink.

This unfortunately has been the too common course, but is not to be attributed
entirely to the improvidence of our farmers. [n many, nay, almost all cases, they

up fe
fault;
Nor t
in its

amon

broke

‘-yard,
> straw -
ps two
er foot
and be
1 most

°

tent of
mn, and
By the
ked by
rield of
els per
eraging
Oxford,
19 2-60
a being
and in
54, the
e is set

While
ive pro-
ain and

asture,

74,946
61,346

1 to 3;
are col-
rmanent

44
83

Leader,
showing
ar 1840
r wheat,
it of the
ttributed
ubt this,
2 all the
farming

in which
turns on
stion : is
2 country
ural rich-
aste. It
an resus-

ttributed
ases, they

LAND DRAINAGE. 6

have had to struggle with the disadvantage of empty pockets, if not indebted for
their very lands, and attention has been paid necessarily only to those things which
would bring an immediate remuneration, therefore the bulk of their timber has
been early disposed of, and the riches of their lands drained by continual crops of
what formed the most ready source of a money return, no attempt at the same
time being made to sustain the once teeming earth with those manures which
should have been accumulated in reserve for its refreshment, and no rest being
afforded by that judicious rotation of crops which the power of landlord has
long enforced upon the tenant farmer of the old countries. There, in addition to
the great efforts which have been made by private individuals, the Government
have not and do not think it beneath their notice to discuss in all its bearings
every question connceted with agriculture in the halls of the legislature, and from
discussion to proceed t) action, to encourage and assist and impel the farmer to
improvement.

If this course has been considered advantageous and necessary in a country
where the control of, and the motive to amelioration, is centralised to a certain
degree as it werein the hands of a few large landed proprietors, who certainly have
in England most nobly fulfilled their duty, how much more imperative should
be the necessity for our Canadian legislature to take a leading part in the same
direction, in a country cut up and divided amongst a population personally
independent of and uncontrolled by any mutual bond or united action. In the
early settlement of the country, it was well, in fact it was useless and impossible
to do otherwise than, to leave the hard working and skilled pioneer to reclaim
in his rude way the virgin soil from the gloom of the forest; for in this
early stage of the earth’s subjugation, and for many years after, there was no
scope for the application of the niceties or the science of agriculture. Time
alone was necessarily the main agent for the removal of the deep rooted stumps,
that imperturbable obstacle to the refinements of the art. Tillage crops could not
be thought of among the wide epreading roots, and the only resource was the
bare fallow and the cultivation of grasses. Here consequently was no field for
the capitalist or the man of science, all was to be accomplished by simple labor,
and the exercise of frugal patience ; and a large portion of our farming popula-
tion have commenced their agricultural career, placin: -vore reliance in, and in
many cases having more knowledge of the use of the «xe, than perhaps the
plough, or the hoe, or the spade. Many even of those who came to their new

omes accustomed to the labor and practice of farming in the old countries, from
force of the entirely different nature of the new from the old sphere of action,
being compelled to abandon tWeir accustomed method of working, have apparent-
ly lost sight of their ancient usages, or cannot now realize that with land in the
game condition, at all similar systems are necessary or applicable to the two
countries ; and, after them, newly arrived colonists either fall into the same course
of husbandry as their predecessors, or failing to appreciate the points of difter-
ence between their new circumstances and what they have been accustomed to,
fail of success, and so serve to discourage any attempt at changing the prevail-
ing course.

This, however, might have been attended with better results, had greater
attention been bestowed on surface drainage, and more care and seed been used
in the laying down of meadows, and by abstaining from too soon breaking them
up for theveareless and hasty growth of grain crops. As a counterpoise to this
faulty system of management, the carth had not. yet lost its youthful strength,
nor that free and permeable state which can easily be imagined to have existed
in its primeval forest days. This natural condition no d.ubt may be reckoned
among the principal sources of the fertility of newly cleared land. In the un-
broken forest, although the water may be retained by natural encumbrances of

6 LAND DRAINAGE.

fallen timber and leaves, the soil is not subject to that rapid evaporation which
takes place when once exposed to the scorching sua and no less scorching wind.
A large portion of water which does not escape over the surfuce, is taken up
by the roots and fibres of the trees, and so consumed, while the remainder
sinks to a much greater depth into the soil, iu its natural light and open state,
than it does in cleared lands. These, as soon as the timber is removed, are
thereby exposed to the sun and wind, and lastly to the treading of cattle, both
at pasture and in the ordinary operations of culture, until the subsoil is at last
reduced, at least in the strong and heavy soils, to a state of consolidation, alike
impenetrable to the roots of crops sought to be grown upon the surface, and
hostile to the fertilizing effects whigfi would otherwise be produced by the
percolation of rains through them. :

One of the most important operation in husbandry, is the provision of ade-
quate and advantageous means for the escape of superfluous water from the
soil, and, for the most part, and until comparatively late years, even in England,
this was considered to be fully accomplished by large open drains at the bottom
of each field, into which the water was discharged by open furrows between the
ridges into which the land was formed. This open furrow is intended not
only to receive the water which flows over the surface, but being ploughed slightly
lower than the depth to which the ridges are tilled, should also prevent the ac-
cumulation and consequent stagnation of water under the surface of and through
the stratum of ploughed soil. It is then, in proportion as the bed upon which
this cultivated soil lies is shaped so as to promote the escape of water into the
open furrow, that ploughing may be to a certain extent, deemed good or bad,
and in order to attain this object all the furrow slices should be of the same
thickness, which, of course will ensure the ploughing to be of the same depth,
and the surface level, or perhaps rather higher in the centre. Instead of this
shape being given, we often sce lands formed with the borders thrown up higher
than the portion immediately within, and perhaps level with what should be
the crown of the ridge, and thus an obstacle presented to the ready flow of the
water from the seed bed. This perfection, however, could not be expected to
be attained where land is encumbered with such obstacles as the roots and
stumps of trees, but should never be wanting in lands free from such impedi-
ments; and it is for this reason that wheel ploughs have been adopted, even in
England, where, although the best of ploughmen are to be found, there is not
perfect certainty of getting workmen who are capable, or ut least careful enough
to accomplish this most important requisite of good ploughing. Another point
to be observed in the laying out of the ridges%in a field, is the direction in
which they should be drawn, in order to affurd the greatest facility for the col-
lection of the water. It will easily be seen that if the furrow be ploughed
across the slope of the land, the water cun only be drawn from the land on the
upper side of the open furrow, and consequently will have to find its way across
the whole ridge, whereas if the lands be layed out as near as possible in the
direction of the greatest fall of the surface, the water will naturally be drawn
from the centre only of the lands on each side of the open furrow. When
these objects are not or cannot be attended to, in many cases there have been
and will be constant failures and disappointments of the results sought after
with much other careful and well bestowed labor. The finer the tilth to which
some soils may be reduced, the more injurious will be the effects of the uccu-
mulated rains stagnating in the finely powdered mass, which will then
run together and become consolidated into a substance more fitted to resist the
pressure of a well loaded waggon-wheel than to afford a medium through which
the buried seed should send forth its delicate germ, or the struggling plant
should penetrate its tender rootlet in rearch of nourishment. The water being

Sear

RE ge

now «
the w
the le
befor
the i
necte
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regul
by tl
the v
it we
recte!
when
drain
tain
provi
any |
shall
of sv
of tl
such
a ba
neig!
are
and |
or a
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to co
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some
auth
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ie
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the
ubl
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at last
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by the

of ade-
‘om the
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bottom
een the
led not
slightly
the ac-
through
1 which
into the
or bad,
ie same
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ould be
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ected to
ots and
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even in
eis not
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ection in
the col-
loughed
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ein the
e drawn

When
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rht after
(o which
he uccu-
rill then
esist the
h which
ng plant
er being

LAND DRAINAGE. 7

now collected, ready to be discharged from each individual ficld, or it may be
the whole property of one owner, we come to a point when the assistance of
the legislature is absolutely necessary in this country, where, as has been remarked
before, no man is constrained by any force but that of his own will, to advance
the intcrests either of himself or his neighborhood, which are so closely con-
nected. ‘There are at the present moment agd have been for years, thousands
of acres of the best lands in the Province gfmost valueless for want of proper
regulations for general drainage, either bg#bpening outlets where necessary, or
by the disencumbering and keeping clggr of natural courses for the flow of
the water. In the municipal corporatiorJ acts, to be sure, a hint has been as
it were casually made at the subject,
rected to commence at the wrong end.

he clause to which I allude asserts that
when drainage is required, the land which lies at the highest level is to be
drained first, and then the drainage of the lower level may be compelled by cer-
tain round-about means. A subsequent enactment (22 Vic., ch. 99, s. 271)
provides that where a majority in number of resident owners of property in
any part of a township, petition for the drainage of the property, the council
shall have power to pass a by-law to carry out their wishes. Now, in a matter
of such great public utility, it should not be left to the judgment or discretion
of the unthinking, careless, and unenterprising majority of a community, if
such happen to be their character, to exist, by their simple vis tnertia, as
a bar to the exertions and progress of their more energetic and improving
neighbours, who, unfortunately, may form the minority. T'acilities for drainage
are necessarily an advantage and profit to every portion of every neighborhood,
and when the natural fall of water lies from one farm or piece of land through
or across another, and this fall is required to be made by the owner of the
higher land, the proprietor of the land on the lower level should be compelled
to construct an out-fall of the requisite depth to afford efficient drainage, from
that on the higher level; and as this should be done between individuals, the
same regulations might be applicable between municipalities. A few days ago
some resolutions were introduced into parliament by Mr. Malcolm Cameron, to
authorise municipalities to impose special rates for certain local improvements ;
perhaps they were intended among others, to touch this particular case, and to
no more important measure could the attention of the parliament, the munici-
palities, and the public be called. In no other work connected with the im-
provement of land is » general unity of action so ‘absolutely necessary as in
that which is now under discussion. Individual labor to a great extent is
unavailing, if not assisted ; but on the contrary, perhaps, counteracted by idleness,
inactivity and neglect around. Well would it be then if the attention of our
legislators could be enlisted for this subject, and as they have been sent to make
laws for the general good, let them think for the thoughtless, force action upon
the indolent, and compel the careless to provide as well for his own as the
public good.

Let us now return to an earlier point in the discussion of our subject. A de-
scription has been given of what for a long time was the only method adopted
for the carrying away 0: superfluous moisture. Is this method then effectual,
or unattended by inconvenience or loss in its operation? In the heavier classes
of soils which, on their reclamation from a state of nature, have become greatly
consolidated and compressed below in course of cultivation, the water may per-
haps be too soon and easily gathered in the water furrows, and led off before it
has had time to sink into the impervious substratum ; but in lighter soils a large
portion of moisture will at once be absorbed beneath the surface, out of reach of
the influence of the shallow water furrow, unless the soil has been previously
charged with water, and then of course the superfiuity must escape over the sur-

the remedy pointed at has been di- ,

’

LAND DRAINAGE.

face. In the latter case this may be caused by the superficial strata being un-
derlaid by an impervious substratum, forming « barrier below which the moisture
cannot penetrate, and that portion consequently becomes stagnant and can only
escape by evaporation, Here are at once two conditions most detrimental to and
destructive of vegetation. The well known effect of evaporation is the produc-
tion of cold, or, rather, the rewoval of heat from the body which gives off its
moisture by this means; and the most active stimulant of vegetable, as of all
other growth is heat. It is indispensably necessary to decompose, and thereby
prepare aud assimilate for food, those matters which are contained in the soil and
furnish nutriment to the plant, and also to promote an active circulation of the
sap, by which alone a healthy condition can be maintained, and the body of the
plant supplied with its sources of increase. By the retention and stagnation of
Water again, the earth becomes soured, and at the same time the pores of the
soil being thus obstructed, and the air excluded from the roots of the crops,
from all these united causes vegetation languishes or entirely ceases, decay en-
sues, and the sower is disappointed of the fruits of his labour:

In the instance of clay and the heavier soils, and whenever the water escapes
over the surface, whether during periods of heavy rain or rapid thaw, the water
becomes filled with the soluble portions of the svil, the more rapid its escape the
More injurious its effects, the land becomes furrowed with deep irregular chan-
nels, through which are hurried into the ditch—ultimately, perhaps, to the main
Water course of the district, at any rate away from the field they were intended
to enrich—many natural fertilizing substances, and, perhaps, also many which
have been collected and incorporated by much care and labour with the soil, —
In a climate like that in which we live, these effects are more particularly obsery-
able, in the spring of the year. The ground being thoroughly soaked by the
autumnal rains, the frost takes a deeper and firmer hold on it, and many inches,
in some cases it may be said feet, are thereby reduced toa solid and perfectly
impenetrable substance. On the approach of spring the immediate surface
passes into an almost liquid state, in consequence of no portion of the thawed
snow or falling rain being able to penetrate the soil beneath, and if there be any
chance for the flow of the water this destructive process commences, and the
earth then loses its most valuaple soluble ingredients. Besides the inconveni-
ence produce. by the accession of larger quantities of water than are immedi-
ately required, or are beneficial either by the fall of rains or from other tempo-
rary sources, another is met with by different strata of the earth coming irregu-
larly to the surface, through which water is brought down froma higher level and
perpetually oozes over the lower lands. To remed y all these evils different methods
have from time to time been ingeniously devised for preventing this water
from coming to the surface and by laying dry the earth to the depth of some
feet, to leave an opportunity for the surface water to be conducted below at
once instead of injuriously flowing over the top. These methods have been ap-
plied and attended with varying expense and success; but at last, in England,
Scotland and Ireland, a system has grown up and been perfected, which seems
to meet with universal approbation, aud is now confidently adopted in all cases,
IT mean the sstem of deep drainage by pipe tiles, To describe the growth of
this system, I can do no better than quote from an article on the “ Progress of
English Agriculture,” which will be tound in the London Quarterly Review,
for April, 1858. The author Says :-—“ Attewpts to drain have been made from
the earliest times. Specimens way be seen of very clever workmanship more
than a hundred years old; but the when it should be done, and the why and the
how, had never been reduced to rule. Lord Bacon, who had a large collection
of works on agriculture, had them one day piled up in the court yard and set on
fire, for, said he, ‘In all these works I find no PRINCIPLES 3 they can, therefore,

same
show
Wh:
are §
grass
occas
rend
of fi
froze
sprit
by tl
of tl

being un-
€ moisture
1 can only
ital to and
le produc-
ves off its
, as of all
d thereby
e soil and
on of the
dy of the
rnation of
‘es of the

he crops,

decay en-

r escapes
the water
scape the
lar chin-
the main
intended
1y which
e@ soil,—
y obsery-
1 by the
y inches,
perfectly
surface
thawed
2 be any
and the
conveni-
immedi-
‘ tempo-
; irregu-
avel and
methods
S water
yf some
elow at
een ap-
ngland,
1 seems
I cases,
wth of
rress of
veview,
le from
p more
ind the
lection
set on
refore,

LAND DRAINAGE. 9

be of no use toany man.’ This was just the deficiency with respect to drainage,
and it could not therefore progress until Josiah Parks, in 1843, expounded the
‘principles,’ and in 1845 made suggestions which led to the manufacture of the
steel tools which were necessary for forming the deep cuttings, and the cheap
pipes which were essential to carrying off the water from them when formed.—
Up to 1843, little was done beyond tapping springs, or endeavouring to conve
away the rain which fell on the surface, by drains so shallow that the ploug
frequently spoiled them, it being the popular belief that water would not pene-
trate through retentive clay beyond twenty or thirty inches. By experiments
eontinued for geveral years, M~, Parks found tliat a deep drain began to run af-
ter wet weather, not from the water above, but from the water rising from the
subterranean accumulations below, and that by drawing away the stagnant ‘mois-
ture from the three or four fect of earth next the surface, it was rendered more
friable, easier to work, more penetrable by the rain which then carried down
air and manure, and much warmer and wore suitable for the nourishment of the
roots of crops. He came to the conclusion that the shallow draining advocated
by Smith, of Deanston, was a vital error; and that four feet, which left a suffici-
ent layer of dry warm surface earth, after allowing for the rise of tle water by
cones attraction above the water level of the drain, should be the minimum
epth.

“In 1843, at the Derby Show of the Royal Agricultural Society, John Read,
a gardener by trade, a self-taught mechanic, exhibited cylindrical clay pipes
with which he had be2n in the habit of draining the hot beds of his master.—
His mode of constructing them was to wrap a lump of clay round a mandril
and rub it smooth with a piece of flannel. Mr. Parks showed one of these pipes
to Karl Spencer, saying, ‘ My Lord, with this pipe I will drain all England.’—
The work from that time went rapidly forward. Drain-cutting implements were
brought to perfection, and tile-making machines have been invented which now
make pipes rapidly and cheaply. In 18/6, Sir Robert Pecl, whose management
of his own property had made him thoroughly alive to the national importance
of the subject, passed the act by which four millions sterling were appropriated
towards assisting land owners with loans for draining their land, with leave to
repay the advance by instalments extending over 22 years. Nearly the whole
of the first loan was absorbed by canny Scotch proprietors, before Englishmen
had made up their minds to take advantage of it. When it is remembered that
the principle on which these results depend was not enunciated till 1843, it will
be seen how rapid and mighty has been the recent progress in agriculture. A
second public loan of four millions was granted in 1856, and it has been esti-
mated that in the ten previous years upwards of sixteen millionshad been invested
by the nation, and by private companies and individuals in thorough drainage.”

Knowing as we do the benefits and success of this system of drainage in Eng-
land, and the other old countries, it will only remain to examined whether the
same be adapted to the circumstances of this country, and I think it can be
shown that where it is beneficial in milder climates, it is doubly so in ours.—
What are, the evils which we have specially to encounter? In the first place we
are subject to loss by the young wheat plant, and even clover and other mature
grasses,‘being thrown out in the early spring. This, I believe. to be entirely
occasioned by the ground being at this season saturated with moisture, which
renders it more susceptible of expansion and contraction by the alternate processes
of freezing and thawing. Secondly, at present our damp and compact earth is
frozen to such a depth, that before the frost is conquered by the warmth of
spring, the surface is robbed of its riches by the rushing flow of water liberated
by the thaw, but unable to find its way through the frozen mass bencath. Both
of these evils would be cured by the soil being kept dry underneath, especially

a contrary condition, and at the same
, yet if there is a way for the water to escape
eneath, it assumes and retains a porous condition, which I have found in prac.
tice admits of a most perfect filtration of water through it. The next evil which
the want of efficient drainage entails upon us is the length of time which elapses
in the spring before the soil is dry enough to be usefully worked, or warm
enough to promote vegetation. Before the plant attains any degree of Strength

ing, so as to be able to pusn.a vigorous root
through the soil in search of nourishment, or expand a broad h

ather sets in, the
ground would be in a state immediately to profit fully by the genial state of the
atmosphere. This would lengthen the growing season of the year at least a fort.
night, at a most important period,

namely, the wheat fly; for, if by this means gur seasons could be advanced to
the extent even of ten days, these and similar insects would not then be able to
do the plant or the fast ripening seed any material d
advantage remains to be mentioned. The presence
tendency to attract frost, and consequently in loe
these inconveniences, delicate crops which ‘come t
the year, such as Indian corn, potatoes and buckwhe
Serious damage fro the early autumn frosts.
ed off by the removal of the origin of the evil.

We will now turn bri: fly to consider the practical work and e
the system is to be carried out, and the means by which, in
capital is deficient, we are to be enabled to apply it.

The general principles laid down for surface drainage will

apply here. A
proper outfall must be established, a main drain laid along the bottom of the

field and branches run into it at regular distances throughout. The limits of a
communication of this nature would not admit of my now refering to the great
variety of circumstances, of position and quality of soil which necessarily alter
the distribution of the drains. The details of a practical system of drainage
would of itself form a subject for a Separate paper. I now give an estimate of
the cost at which tho work can be done.

In England I have found that at a depth of four feet an average day’s work
is from five to seven reds, for which a price is paid of from 6d to 8d sterling, per
rod, the latter price being the highest paid for digging in the very heavy stiff
and tenacious wealden clays of Sussex and Oxfordshire, This includes openirg
and filling the drain, and laying the pipe. The price of the tiles varies according
to the price of fuel and other circumstances, from 16 to 22 shillings per thousand,
and the drains being generally laid at a depth of 4 feet, and 20 feet apart, (in
Scotland in very heavy soils 3 feet deep, and 14 feet apart), the cost of draining
will be from five to seven pounds sterling, per acre, or in our money from twenty-
five to thirty-five dollars. In this country the work might be done at from
thirty tu forty dollars per acre. In England the daily wages of men engaged
in this work are from 9s to 28 6dstg., 2 day; and here if farmers were to provide
Work for their laborers all the year round instead of paying enormous wages
in the Summer, and none in the winter, a great part of this work might be done

>
Xpense by which
a country where:

it being a
i il loosely thrown together is much more imper-

1, it being a
more imper-
at the same
iter to escape
und in prac-
t evil which
hich elapses
d, or warm
of Strength
igorous root
y leaf to be
erowth and
age, on the
sets in, the
state of the
least a forte
velopment,
vegetation
conjecture
hreatened,
lvanced to
be able to
e material
ture has a
subject. to
season of
y liable to

| be ward-

by which
iry where:

ere, AL
m of the
nits of a
he great
rily alter
drainage
imate of

8 work
ing, per
vy stiff
penirg
cording
yusand,
art, (in
raining
wenty-
t from
gaged
rovide

wages
> done

LAND DRAINAGE, 11
at a no very great advance in prices, by taking proper precautions to enable it
to be done in the winter. For instance, the plan of drainage might be laid out
in the autumn, and the line of the drains covered with litter or manure, which
will be useful in the field the following spring, aud thus prevent the frost from
impeding the work. The main difficulty in this matter is, that few persons, if
any, have means to meet this very large oytlay, and the only measure which I
can conceive to remove it, is for our legislature to follow the example of the
British Parliament, and pass an act to provide meana to be placed at the disposal
of every landholder for the accomplishment of this special purpose.

The provisions of the English Act 9 and 10, Vic. c. 101, can with very
slight alterations, be made perfectly applicable to this country. The most im-
portant among them are the following, Any owner of land desiring to obtain a
loan under the act, must make an application to the commissioners appointed
for the purpose, containing a statement of the particulars of the land to be
drained, of the manner of draining, of the estimated expense of the work, and
of the estimated increase of the value of the land by the same, also the estate
and interest of the applicant in the property, and whether the advance is to
cover all or what portion ~* the expense of the work. If the application be
entertained, the land, plan, - imate and specification of the proposed drainage,
are to be inspected at the expense of the applicant, by an assistant commissioner,
surveyor or engineer, and a report by them to be made and sent in with the
plan and other documents accompanying the application, attached.

Tf the advance be deemed expedient, the commissioncr is to issue a provisional
certificate, that on the work being satisfactorily performed the advance asked
for and approved of will be made, or, as the work proceeds, not over two-thirds
of the sum actually expended.

This provisional certificate, however, cannot be issued until notice of the appli-
cation has been duly published for two successive weeks, and two months
have elapsed after the last publication, and in case any other person having
any estate in or charge upon the land, sends in a dissent to the loan being made,
no certificate can issue until the dissent be withdrawn, or an order be made in
court, upon the matter being referred to the Muster in Chancery to report whe-
ther it will be beneficial to all parties interested in the land that such advance
be made.

The commissioners are to cause the work to be inspected, and all particulars
of che execution and expense ascertained, and for this purpose may take decla-
rations from any parties in any matter of enquiry under the act. Upon the issue
of the advance in order to pay the debt, the land becomes subject to a rent-
charge of six anda half per cent on the amount of the loan for twenty-two
years, and a certificate of the advance is registered against the land.

This rent-charge has priority to all other charges upon the same land, and is
collected half-yearly by the collectors of other lund and assessed taxes for the
several districts in which the lands are situated.

The out-falls for the drains aro to be kept open and clear, and a yearly certifi-
cate of their condition is to be sent in to tho commissioner,

Two objections have been urged against the propriety of the government of
the country making any advance for this purpose, Tho first is the nancial pusi-
tion of the Province, and the second the difficulty of ensuring the proper expen-
diture of the money, and afterwards of cullecting the charge for re-payment,
The first part of the latter difficulty is removed by the precaution of not paying
the money until the work is done, which might be further strengthened by
making it a penal offence to make a false declaration, and to draw any money
under such false pretence, and the collection of the charge can be made equally
regular and certain with that of the ordinary municipal taxes of the country,

¢

LAND DRAINAGE.

Serious consideration will easi
has not hesitated to incur a ve

they have ve
hem; but how

hat this failure is
da,
Ont

tioned profit,

when the lan
cultivated dr
season.

forty and fif

value to that

when we see
drainage is wanting,
be the improvement
of a measure of this

SISNS 4/863 /859 Keseit